Method and apparatus for directing a neutral beam

Abstract

An apparatus and method for producing a deflection of a Neutral Beam derived from a gas-cluster ion-beam deflects the gas-cluster ion-beam prior to dissociation of gas clusters and removal of tons.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . An apparatus for controlling a direction of a Neutral Beam derived from a gas-cluster ion-beam having an initial path formed in an ion source that has an exit aperture encircling the initial path, the apparatus comprising:
 a. an accelerating electrode spaced from the exit aperture, said accelerating electrode having an aperture encircling the initial path;
 wherein, the accelerating electrode and its aperture are tilted at a first tilt angle along a first tilt axis, with respect to the initial path of the gas-cluster ion-beam; 
 further wherein, the accelerating electrode is electrically biased with respect to the ion source to accelerate the gas-cluster ion-beam in a region between the ion source exit aperture and the accelerating electrode aperture; and 
 still further wherein, the first tilt angle results in a deflection of the gas-cluster ion-beam away from the initial path along a first deflected path; 
   b. a drift space for the deflected gas-cluster ion-beam, wherein dissociation of gas-cluster ions in the accelerated gas-cluster ion-beam occurs, producing accelerated neutral particles; and   c. means for separating ions from neutral particles to remove ions from the deflected beam path, so that the accelerated neutral particles follow the deflected beam path as a Neutral Beam.   
     
     
         2 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the first tilt angle is less than 90 degrees. 
     
     
         3 . The apparatus of  claim 2 , wherein the first tilt angle is greater than 70 degrees. 
     
     
         4 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the first tilt angle is controllably variable and the resulting deflection of the gas-cluster ion-beam is variable. 
     
     
         5 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the accelerating electrode and its aperture are tilted at a second tilt angle along a second tilt axis with respect to the initial path of the gas-cluster ion-beam and the resulting deflection is a compound deflection. 
     
     
         6 . The apparatus of  claim 5 , wherein the second tilt angle is less than 90 degrees and greater than 70 degrees. 
     
     
         7 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the deflection provides a Neutral Beam alignment or centering effect. 
     
     
         8 . The apparatus of  claim 5 , wherein the second tilt angle is controllably variable and the resulting deflection of the gas-cluster ion-beam is variable. 
     
     
         9 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the first tilt angle and the second tilt angle are each controllably variable and the first and second tilt axes are distinct. 
     
     
         10 . The apparatus of  claim 9 , further comprising means for controlling the first and second tilt angles to produce a raster-scanned Neutral Beam. 
     
     
         11 . A method for producing a deflection of a Neutral Beam derived from a gas-cluster ion-beam having an initial path formed in an ion source that has an exit aperture encircling the initial path, the method comprising the steps:
 a. providing an accelerating electrode spaced from the exit aperture, said accelerating electrode having an aperture encircling the initial path;   b. electrically biasing the accelerating electrode with respect to the ion source to provide a gas-cluster ion-beam acceleration region between the ion source exit aperture and the accelerating electrode aperture;   c. first tilting the accelerating electrode and its aperture at a first tilt angle, along a first tilt axis, with respect to the initial path of the gas-cluster ion-beam, wherein the gas-cluster ion-beam is deflected away from the initial path along a first deflected path;   d. providing a drift space for the deflected gas-cluster ion-beam, wherein dissociation of gas-cluster ions in the accelerated gas-cluster ion-beam occurs, producing accelerated neutral particles; and   c. separating ions from neutral particles to remove ions from the deflected beam path, permitting the accelerated neutral particles to follow the deflected beam path as a Neutral Beam.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the first tilt angle is less than 90 degrees and greater than 70 degrees. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the first tilt angle is controllably varied and the resulting deflection of the gas-cluster ion-beam is varied. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 11 , further comprising the step of second tilting the accelerating electrode and its aperture at a second tilt angle, along a second tilt axis, with respect to the initial path of the gas-cluster ion-beam producing a resulting deflection that is a compound deflection. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the second tilted angle is less than 90 degrees and greater than 70 degrees with respect to the initial path. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the deflection aligns or centers the Neutral Beam. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the second tilted angle is controllably varied and the resulting deflection of the gas-cluster ion-beam is varied. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the first tilted angle and the second tilted angle are each controllably varied and the first and second tilt axes are distinct.
 Wherein the first and second tilt axes may be perpendicular to each other and to the initial path.   
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 18 , further comprising the step of variably controlling the first or second tilt angles to produce a scanned Neutral Beam. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 18 , further comprising the step of variably controlling the first and second tilt angles to produce a scanned Neutral Beam scanned in two dimensions.